Isn’t this cute?
The children want me to pay my taxes.
I guess it’s not painful enough that I am expected to fill out complicated forms every year, ratting myself out to a government that can barely even fix a pothole. What do those kids have to do with income tax, anyway? I’m sure the money isn’t going to schools.
I guess it’s not painful enough that I am expected to fill out complicated forms every year, ratting myself out to a government that can barely even fix a pothole. What do those kids have to do with income tax, anyway? I’m sure the money isn’t going to schools.
You said (asked): And nothing could be farther from the truth. (Before I go on, will someone please write and tell me if I should have said “further” instead of “farther?’
Here’s my answer about Farther and Further:
Fowler’s “Modern English Usage†(my book’s copyright is 1983; there is a newer one) indicates that:
“The fact is that hardly anyone uses the two words for different occasions; most people prefer one or the other for all purposes, and the preference of the majority is for furtherâ€.
The distinction made by sticklers of the old school seems to be that farther is more appropriate when it’s clearly a matter of “farâ€-ness, of literal distance.
Example: My boy can run farther than yours can, but your son has gone further with his studies.
So my rule of thumb, if I think of it, is to decide if it refers to something conceptual or to literal distance. But some, at least, seem to feel it no longer matters.
As you may observe, this is one of the stupid set-up, bogged-up deals in the English language. If you hear anyone say “Oh, fuck it!”, that was me, but Fowler probably won’t be far behind.
I find it funny that someone would thank you for doing something that you would end up in jail for should you choose not to.
The above sentence looks strange to me, but I’ve been reading tech documents all week so my vision is all doubly funky anyways.
It was between that photo and one of a stripper holding out her g-string. They picked the kids for some reason. Weird.
Ron – This is the answer I would have come up with if someone had said “Use your common sense!” I was hoping someone would take my question seriously. Thank you!
Brent – Yeah, and this is the booklet they send out before you’ve paid, so the “thank you” is actually a little imperative, like “Thank you for not smoking,” or “Thank you for not bringing guns into the courtroom.”
Steph – If the tax collectors were dancers in G-strings, It would be easier to pay. The problem would be figuring out how to move fifty tons of one-dollar bills to Sacramento.
argh. comments driving me crazy.
what was I going to say now?
oh yeah, they’re always TAKING money from schools, not giving it…
I don’t mind paying taxes– but I DO mind that my tax dollars are wasted by the Republicans in Congress.
L – I have eternal faith. I know that comments will work again one day. When I want to comment I click and then open another tab and read something else for a while. Sometimes I have time to make a pot of coffee while I’m waiting, so at least I get something important done. Anyway, my favorite state-sponsored tax scam is The Lottery, which is always sold to us as free money for schools, but then as soon as the lottery money starts to roll in, the local legislature cuts the school budget by a similar amount, so the only benefit from the lottery is to the operators and the eleven people who actually win something.
Is nothing sacred? Bad enough that babies are used to sell automobile tires (giant teething rings?). Besides, aren’t we, as adults, supposed to instill guilt in children and not the other way around? At least that’s what my mother told me…
–Lu